On Tuesday, fiction author Clifford Garstang shared his literary works with 25 people. 

Clifford Garstang has written many books including What the Zhang Boys Know, Oliver’s Travels, Last Bird of Paradise, and many more. 

“One of the things I love about short stories is inhabiting different characters,” Author Clifford Garstang said. “… You’re basically playing the role of that person like an actor.” 

Garstang read two of his books aloud, noting their similarities. 

Most of his books are about being an Outsider, Garstang Said. 

Birds of Paradise was about women moving from the United States to Singapore for the first time. What the Zhang Boys Know is a collection of different stories from many outsiders. The Shaman of Turtle Yalley is about a Korean woman feeling like an outsider in America. 

He also tends to write strong, independent female characters. 

“In Birds of Paradise… the strong women characters are incredibly intriguing,” first-year creative writing and art history student Norris Beasley said. 

“I have [the] inspiration to continue learning more about literary people,” former student Liza Linder said. 

Second-year creative writing student Aaila Syeda who introduced Garstang at the event said she likes hearing other writers talk. 

“It’s always nice getting a look inside another writer’s thinking process.”

She appreciates how Garstang really into the mind of each character he writes no matter how long the story is. 

Dr. Garrett Brown, the creative writing coordinator organized this event as a part of the Writers Reading program. 

“These events have been going on for quite some time. We try to bring in six writers a year… primarily because we want our students to have access to working writers and to be able to ask writers’ questions,” he said.